Mike,

I thank you for all the Wisdom I have learned since I met you. I just want to know if keeping quiet is right? Where I am there are mostly Catholics and Charismatic Churches, and I am not attending church. I only meet with people when I go for a walk.

Thanks, and God bless,

N____

Hi N____,

Thank you for your question concerning keeping quiet about the truths you have been given. There is time to keep quiet, and there is a time to witness for Christ.

Pro 26:4  Answer not a fool according to his folly, lest thou also be like unto him.
Pro 26:5  Answer a fool according to his folly, lest he be wise in his own conceit.

It is the motivation for speaking that will generally tell you when and if you are to speak. If you have any tiny bit of self-exultation as your motive for speaking, then you need to put your hand over your mouth. There will be no fleshly pride in the kingdom of God. On the other hand, if you are speaking because you know that God will be glorified by His words in your mouth, even if you are speaking to those who want to see you dead, then you will speak, and your words will glorify God. There is a time to speak, and there is a time to “hold your peace.”

Those two verses in Proverbs are not contradicting each other. Christ instructed us against casting our pearls before swine and against giving that which is holy to the dogs. However, He also demonstrated that we are to witness to His Truth, even if it is at the expense of our lives.

Mat 7:6  Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.
Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Both men and women in Christ, are instructed to be ready to given an answer for the hope that is in us.

1Pe 3:15  But sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:

You say:

I just want to know if keeping quiet is right?

It is right to keep quiet when the holy spirit reveals to you that your words will not be received. It is right to keep quiet when you are made aware that the person to whom you are speaking has no intention of receiving anything you have to say.

The act of the apostle Peter cutting off the ear of the servant of the high priest with a sword is the perfect type and example of what happens when we attempt to make someone see truths for whom the holy spirit has blinded that person’s eyes. When we try to force others to see what God has given us, then we are spiritually ‘cutting off the ear.’

Joh 18:10  Then Simon Peter having a sword drew it, and smote the high priest’s servant, and cut off his right ear. The servant’s name was Malchus.

On the other hand, it is nothing less than denying Christ when you are in a group of people having a discussion which leads to a perfect opportunity to witness to the truth of Christ and His Father, and you remain silent for fear of being rejected or for fear of being discovered as being outside the main stream.

2Ti 2:12  If we suffer, we shall also reign with him: if we deny him, he also will deny us:

The spirit of Christ is in all who are His, and all who are His are His prophets who witness of Him.

Rom 8:9  But ye are not in the flesh, but in the Spirit, if so be that the Spirit of God dwell in you. Now if any man have not the Spirit of Christ, he is none of his.

If Christ is in us we will leap at the opportunity to stand up for Him and be a witness for the true Christ as opposed to the far more popular false Christ of orthodox Christianity. Tribulation and persecution are our calling. If we do not experience these trials, we are not standing for God’s Word, and the “spirit of prophecy is not in us.

Mat 13:20  But he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it;
Mat 13:21  Yet hath he not root in himself, but dureth for a while: for when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended.

Rev 19:10  And I fell at his feet to worship him. And he said unto me, See [thou do it] not: I am thy fellowservant, and of thy brethren that have the testimony of Jesus: worship God: for the testimony of Jesus is the spirit of prophecy.

Our true brothers and sisters in Christ “have the testimony of Jesus.” Our way of life will witness to that fact, and it cannot be hidden from the knowledge of any and all who come to know us. Those who come to know Christ’s anointed, His christ, will discover that the words of Christ will be in His anointed. What that means is that those who truly know Christ will know His suffering and His rejection at the hands of organized, established, orthodox Christianity – the very people who claim to be His own people. They will not be rejected because they never opened their mouth. It will be the words that come out of their mouths that will cause them to be “hated of all men… scourged in their synagogues.”

Mat 10:17  But beware of men: for they will deliver you up to the councils, and they will scourge you in their synagogues;

Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.
Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.
Mat 10:21  And the brother shall deliver up the brother to death, and the father the child: and the children shall rise up against their parents, and cause them to be put to death.
Mat 10:22  And ye shall be hated of all [men] for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved.

“Is it right to be quiet?” I hope this has helped to demonstrate that as contradictory as it may seem there is a time to be quiet, and there is a time to speak, and you do not need to wonder when to do which. If you stay in the word of God, Christ will be growing in you every day, and you will be dying to this world every day, and the holy spirit itself will lead you to speak or to be silent at the appropriate time.

Mat 10:19  But when they deliver you up, take no thought how or what ye shall speak: for it shall be given you in that same hour what ye shall speak.

Mat 10:20  For it is not ye that speak, but the Spirit of your Father which speaketh in you.

Your brother in Christ,
Mike